familypediawikiaorg-20200214-history
Mendoza, Argentina
|subdivision_type1 = Province |subdivision_name1 = Mendoza |subdivision_type2 = Department |subdivision_name2 = Capital |established_title = Settled |established_date = |founder = Pedro del Castillo |government_type = |leader_title = Mayor |leader_name = Rodolfo Suarez (UCR) |area_magnitude = |unit_pref = Metric |area_total_km2 = 54 |elevation_m = 746.5 |population_as_of = 2010 |population_total = 115,041 |population_urban = 1,055,679 |population_footnotes = |population_density_km2 = 2055.4 |population_blank1_title = Demonym |population_blank1 = Mendocenean (Mendocino/-a Spanish) | timezone1 = ART | utc_offset1 = -3 | timezone1_DST = | utc_offset1_DST = |postal_code_type = CPA Base |postal_code = M 5500 |area_code = +54 261 |coordinates = |blank_name = Climate |blank_info = BWk |website = www.ciudaddemendoza.gov.ar }} Mendoza ( ) is the capital of the province of Mendoza in Argentina. It is located in the northern-central part of the province, in a region of foothills and high plains, on the eastern side of the Andes. As of the , Mendoza had a population of 115,041 with a metropolitan population of 1,055,679, making Greater Mendoza the fourth largest census metropolitan area in the country. Ruta Nacional 7, the major road running between Buenos Aires and Santiago, runs through Mendoza. The city is a frequent stopover for climbers on their way to Aconcagua (the highest mountain in the Western and Southern Hemispheres) and for adventure travelers interested in mountaineering, hiking, horse riding, rafting, and other sports. In the winter, skiers come to the city for easy access to the Andes. Two of the main industries of the Mendoza area are olive oil production and Argentine wine. The region around Greater Mendoza is the largest wine producing area in Latin America. As such, Mendoza is one of the nine Great Wine Capitals,- The Great Wine Capitals and the city is an emerging enotourism destination and base for exploring the region's hundreds of wineries located along the Argentina Wine Route. History , lithograph by A. Goering, 1858 (i.e. prior to the devastating 1861 earthquake).]] On March 2, 1561, Pedro del Castillo founded the city and named it Ciudad de Mendoza del Nuevo Valle de La Rioja after the governor of Chile, Don García Hurtado de Mendoza.welcomeargentina.com: Land of the good wine Before the 1560s the area was populated by tribes known as the Huarpes and Puelches. The Huarpes devised a system of irrigation that was later developed by the Spanish. This allowed for an increase in population that might not have otherwise occurred. The system is still evident today in the wide trenches (acequias), which run along all city streets, watering the approximately 100,000 trees that line every street in Mendoza. It is estimated that fewer than 80 Spanish settlers lived in the area before 1600, but later prosperity increased due to the use of indigenous and slave labor, and the Jesuit presence in the region. When nearby rivers were tapped as a source of irrigation in 1788 agricultural production increased. The extra revenues generated from this, and the ensuing additional trade with Buenos Aires, no doubt led to the creation of the state of Cuyo in 1813 with José de San Martín as governor. It was from Mendoza that San Martin, other Argentinian patriots and Chilean patriots organized the army with which they won the independence of Chile and Peru.Morris Charles - The Hannibal of the Andes and the Freedom of Chile Mendoza suffered a severe earthquake in 1861 that killed at least 5,000 people. The city was rebuilt, incorporating innovative urban designs that would better tolerate such seismic activity. Mendoza was rebuilt with large squares and wider streets and sidewalks than any other city in Argentina. Avenue Bartolomé Mitre and additional small squares are examples of that design. Tourism, wine production, and more recently the exploitation of hard commodities such as oilBaldwin Harry L. - Tupungato oil field and uraniumNew uranium mining projects ensure Mendoza's status as a key regional center. Important suburbs such as Godoy Cruz, Guaymallén, Las Heras, Luján de Cuyo and Maipú have in recent decades far outpaced the city proper in population. Comprising half the metro population of 212,000 in 1947, these suburbs grew to nearly ⅞ of the total metro area of over 1,000,000 by 2015, making Mendoza the most dispersed metro area in Argentina. Culture Mendoza has several museums, including the Museo Cornelio Moyano, a natural history museum, and the Museo del Área Fundacional (Historical Regional Foundation Museum) on Pedro del Castillo Square. The Museo Nacional del Vino (National Wine Museum), focusing on the history of winemaking in the area, is southeast of Mendoza in Maipú. The Casa de Fader, a historic house museum, is an 1890 mansion once home to artist Fernando Fader in nearby Mayor Drummond, south of Mendoza. The mansion is home to many of the artist's paintings. The Fiesta Nacional de la Vendimia (The National Grape Harvest Festival) occurs in early March each year. Part of the festivities include a beauty pageant, where 17 beauty queens from each department of Mendoza Province compete, and one winner is selected by a panel of about 50 judges. The queen of Mendoza city's department does not compete and acts as host for the other queens. In 2008, National Geographic listed Mendoza as one of the top 10 historic destinations in the world.[http://traveler.nationalgeographic.com/2008/11/historic-destinations-rated/list-text National Geographic - 2008 Ranking of Historic Places] Education Mendoza has a number of universities, including the major Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, as well as University of Mendoza, a branch of Universidad Congreso, Aconcagua University, UTN (Universidad Tecnologica Nacional) and Champagnat University. Mendoza is a popular place to learn Spanish, and there are a number of Spanish language schools, including Intercultural, Green Fields and SIMA. Urban structure The city is centered around Plaza Independencia (Independence Plaza) with Avenida Sarmiento running through its center east-west, with the east side pedestrianized (peatonal). Other major streets, running perpendicular to Sarmiento, include Bartolomé Mitre, San Martín, and 9 de Julio (July 9th), those running parallel include Colón, and Las Heras. Four smaller plazas, San Martín, Chile, Italia, and España, are located 2 blocks off each corner of Independence Plaza. Unique to Mendoza are the exposed stone ditches, essentially small canals, which run alongside many of the roads supplying water to the thousands of trees that provide welcome shade. These deep ditches also represent a fall hazard to unsuspecting visitors, particularly in the dark. The Parque General San Martín (General San Martín Park) was designed by Carlos Thays. Its grounds include the Mendoza Zoological Park and a football stadium, and it is also the home of the Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. A view of the city is available from the top of Cerro de la Gloria (Mt. Glory). Politics Elections for mayor and councilors took place on 22 February 2015. Transportation Mendoza is from Buenos Aires (13 hours by bus) and from Santiago, Chile (6–7 hours by bus). Gov. Francisco Gabrielli International Airport serves Mendoza, with flights to/from Buenos Aires taking less than 2 hours and less than 1 hour to/from Santiago. .]] The public transport system includes buses, the Mendoza trolleybus system, and taxis. The trolleybuses are more comfortable than the diesel buses, but are slower, not as numerous nor is the system as extensive. In 2008, TransLink of Vancouver, Canada, sold most of its old trolleybus fleet to Mendoza.Aged trolleys sold to Argentine city A heritage railway, El Tren del Vino (The Wine Train) is being planned which will also provide local transportation; it will run through wine producing districts of Mendoza.Mendoza Wine Train Metrotranvía driving by Belgrano street.]] A new light rail line, the Metrotranvía Mendoza, opened for regular service in October 2012."Mendoza light rail service begins" (December 2012). Tramways & Urban Transit, p. 451. LRTA Publishing. . and serves five areas of the Greater Mendoza conurbation. The line runs from Estación Central|es|3=Estación Central Mendoza}} (at the site of the former intercity passenger train station, near the city centre) south to Maipú. Transandine Railway Mendoza's development was helped partly due to its position at the start of the Transandine Railway linking it to Santa Rosa de Los Andes in Chile. The only railway operable between Argentina and Chile, after many years of inactivity, is currently under restoration and testing for its revival as a freight line by Belgrano Cargas.www.diariodecuyo.com.ar El tren trasandino Accessed 22 June 2009Volvió el ferrocarril a Mendoza En julio se licitará tren Los Andes - Mendoza Revisiting the Transandine Railway - accessed 22 June 2009 The Transandine Railway is a line, with sections of Abt rack, whilst the railways it links with are both broad gauge. A journey from Buenos Aires to Chile involved two breaks-of-gauge, and therefore two changes of train, one at Mendoza, and the other at Santa Rosa de Los Andes. Wine industry Argentina’s highly rated Malbec wines originate from Mendoza’s high-altitude wine regions of Lujan de Cuyo and the Uco Valley. These Districts are located in the foothills of the Andes mountains between 2,800 and 5,000 feet elevation. WINE TOURS: Argentina - Mendoza, "Fly Fishing Patagonia"Wine Tip: Malbec Madness, "Wine Spectator", April 12, 2010 Vintner Nicolas Catena Zapata is considered the pioneer of high-altitude growing and was the first, in 1994, to plant a malbec vineyard at 5,000 feet above sea level in the Mendoza region. His family is also credited with making world-class wines and giving status to the wines of Argentina.Malbec wines have rich history and flavor, "Argus leader" In film Seven Years in Tibet, directed by French director Jean-Jacques Annaud, was shot in and around Mendoza. Several dozens of sets were built, ranging from a long recreation of the Tibetan capital city of Lhasa (built in the foothills of the Andes), to a recreation of the Hall of Good Deeds in the Potala, the ancient palace of the Dalai Lama (built in an abandoned garlic warehouse outside the city). Climate Mendoza's climate is characterized as an arid (Köppen climate classification BWh or BWk depending on the isotherm used); with continental characteristics. Most precipitation in Mendoza falls in the summer months (November–March). Summers are hot and humid where mean temperatures can exceed . Average temperatures for January (summer) are during daytime, and at night. Winters are cold and dry with mean temperatures below . Night time temperatures can occasionally fall below freezing during the winter. Because winters are dry with little precipitation, snowfall is uncommon, occurring once per year. July (winter) the average temperatures are and , day and night respectively. Mendoza's annual rainfall is only , so extensive farming is made possible by irrigation from major rivers. The highest temperature recorded was on January 30, 2003 while the lowest temperature recorded was on July 10, 1976. Meteo climat (record highs and lows) Oficina de Riesgo Agropecuario (November and December record high and May record low only) |source 2 = Servicio Meteorológico Nacional (precipitation days) }} }} Gallery File:Mendoza - Cerro de la Gloria - Monumento.jpg|Monument to the Army of the Andes, on the summit of Cerro de la Gloria File:Mendoza - Plaza Sarmiento 1.jpg|Fuente de los continentes in Parque General San Martín File:Plaza videla castillo area fundacional.jpg|Plaza Pedro del Castillo File:Plaza San Martín, Mendoza 4520.jpg|Monument to José de San Martín in Plaza San Martín File:Poder Judicial de Mendoza.JPG|Provincial Judiciary File:Parque de Mendoza.jpg|Portones - entry to Parque General San Martín File:In the streets of Mendoza.jpg|Avenida San Martín File:Casa de Gobierno de Mendoza.jpg|Provincial Executive Building Sports See The city boasts at least two significant football clubs—Independiente Rivadavia and Gimnasia y Esgrima de Mendoza, although neither currently plays in the Primera División. A club from the nearby city of Godoy Cruz, Godoy Cruz Antonio Tomba, is currently in the Primera. People See Twin towns — sister cities Mendoza is twinned with: * São Paulo, Brazil Lei Municipal de São Paulo 14471 de 2007 WikiSource * Sertãozinho, Brazil * Ramat Gan, Israel * Monterrey, Mexico * Bergamo, Italy * Miami-Dade County, USA * Nashville, USA See also * 1861 Mendoza earthquake * 1985 Mendoza earthquake * 2006 Mendoza earthquake References Sources * V. Letelier, Apuntes sobre el terremoto de Mendoza (Santiago de Chile - 1907) * V. Blasco Ibánez, Argentina y sus Grandezas (Madrid - 1910) External links * Audio slideshow: Mendoza City, Argentina- An earthquake hotspot. Travel writer Christabelle Dilks discusses how earthquakes have shaped the city of Mendoza. Royal Geographical Society's Hidden Journeys project * Universidad Nacional de Cuyo * (Spanish) Municipality of Mendoza Official website * (Spanish) Tourism office * * Category:Mendoza, Argentina Category:Settlements in Mendoza Province Category:Capitals of Argentine provinces Category:Settlements established in 1561 Category:1561 establishments in the Spanish Empire Category:1561 establishments in South America